Geology, land uses and quaternary paleogeographic evolution of Estaleiro beach in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil

People's interests upon coastal areas have been observed during all over human history. Its exploitation has happened in many and diverse ways. Recently, the irregular expansion of coastal urban centers in such areas became a concerned kind of land use. The Man/Nature interaction over these ecosystems is very fragile, and problems associated with this interaction are observed all over the world. Predicting the behavior of coastal process, like the shoreline retraction, became a public administration need, aiming to promote planned urban development actions. In Brazil, mapping works approaching the geology and evolution of coastal segments, have been carried out and used to support administration and management plans of costal areas. Based on these premises, geology, land use and evolution maps were developed to Estaleiro Beach, located near by the city of Balneario Camboriu, central north shore of the Santa Catarina State. This area is a typical example of irregular urban occupation. However, remote regions, like Estaleiro Beach, can be still found in initial occupational stages. Two thematic maps were produced utilizing remote sensing and geoprocessing tools, and a paleogeographic evolution for that beach was proposed. The geological map followed the baselines of the Itajai Leaf Geological Map, where the Coastal Plain Depositional Systems were divided in Continental Alluvial Fans and Coastal Wave-Dominant. The land use map followed the same descriptions found in the Basic Plan for Santa Catarina Development.